If It's Love, Then I'm Happy
by Kayane Joel
Summary: As Voldemort rises, Lily and James,almost enemies, are forced into a dangerous adventure, risking their lives to try to protect Hogwarts... But what do they do when this forces them to act like girlfriend and boyfriend?
1. Secret Assignments

If It's Love, Then I'm Happy

Lily walked up the stairs to her transfiguration teacher's office nervously. She hadn't done anything wrong, had she? Dumbledore must have some other reason for calling e to his office, she told herself firmly. The stairs were cheerily lit by lavender candles that smelled of flowers, and the steps were a comforting white marble. She paused as she neared the end of the staircase. Voices were drifting from behind the oak door, one angry, one calm.

"But I cannot see how you can give such a responsibility to such a young pair of students!" said a deep and forbidding voice. The soft creaks of wood told Lily that he was pacing the length of the office. Dumbledore, however, took no note of this, for it was his same composed voice that answered, but Lily was sure that there was anger in his eyes. They were the only things that gave away his true feelings.

"Trust me, these students are fully prepared to what I will ask of them."

There was a sigh, but then the voice, not so angry now; more like defeated said, "Very well."

Lily flattened herself against the wall as the Minister of Magic himself hurried down the stairs, pausing only for a brief nod of recognition to the Head Girl.

"Only two days in school and already arguments," thought Lily with a sigh. She had been wishing for the honor of being Head Girl since she had entered Hogwarts, but she found it much less rewarding than she would have thought. She didn't mind the patrol, but she did mind the Head Boy – James Potter, who had been her mortal enemie since her first year, when he tried to steal her pumpkin pastry. Insufferable git, tall and annoyingly handsome, playboy..

Lily frowned slightly, remembering how annoyed she had been when she had found out that for the rest of the year she had to share a common room with James. Shaking the thought out ofher head, she continued up the stairs, and walked into Dumbledore's office.

The old professor sat at a large desk made of a polished, honey-colored wood. Scrolls of Parchments were arranged in a pile at the corner, and a certain number of quills laid near them. Before his desk were two armchairs.

"Ah, Ms. Evans," said Dumbledore warmly. "I have been expecting you. Do sit down."

Lily was hesitantly settling herself into a chintz armchair when James Potter burst through the door.

"I didn't do it!" he exclaimed breathlessly, leaning on the wall and panting. "It was all Siri-" But he stopped short when he was Lily staring at him. "Evans?" said James disbelievingly. "You finally got yourself into trouble?"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling merrily. "You are not in trouble," he said kindly. "At least for the moment," he added, eyeing James. "Please sit down, Mr. Potter."

Relieved, James sat down in the armchair, arms crossed, and an unreadable expression on his face. They both looked expectantly at Dumbledore.

When the headmaster looked up, Lily was shocked to see that he seemed to have grown much older. His eyes were dull, and newfound wrinkles were clear on his face.

"Lily, James, I have a mission for you."

Lily looked up, surprised. James' eyes widened, as he sat forward in his chair to listen better.

"What for, Professor?" said James curiously.

"Well,... You both know very well about what is going on in the wizarding world. Voldemort is growing stronger, and the death toll has been mounting steadily. The Minister of Magic has asked me to take charge of the prevention of further homicides caused by Voldemort. Unfortunately, I cannot take these measures fully myself, for I must also be on the spot of these crimes directly after. Therefore, I was given the task of choosing a team of – say, detectives, who must do everything possible to predict. If you two become good enough, you will be asked to become aurors after you leave the school. I think you two will find it rather enjoyable. What I want you to do is act in secret to try to predict Voldemort's next moves. I trust you to be very secretive about this, which means you cannot even tell your friends. You must work on this as often as possible, in a small room that I will tell you about in a minute." He stared at the disbelieving faces before him.

Lily and James gaped at the Headmaster, clearly shocked.

"I – I – how? How do we do this?" stuttered Lily.

"Well, that is for you two to find out. I do not know how you shall do, but proceed rationally and with a lot of common sense as well as imagination. I suggest reading a number of the famous muggle author Agatha Christie's novels," said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye. "As these might give you the good 'detective spirit'. As soon as you have a little bit of information, I want you to rush it to me. Even something you aren't entirely sure of – anything you find could be important. Ah, I almost forgot. Take this."

The wizard summoned a box off of a high shelf. It was rather small, about the size of a small fist, and made of a peculiar wood. The Head Boy and Head Girl stared, confused, at the box.

"Go ahead, open it!" said Dumbledore.

Lily took the box and looked at the gold lock that kept it closed. She brushed her finger along it, surprised at how beautiful the lock was up close. She saw an inscription on the side. "Latin, professor?" she inquired.

"Yes. It says that only a person worthy of what lies inside may open it."

"Are-are we worthy of it, sir?" questioned James.

"Yes, yes, of course! That is why I chose you."

Lily place her fingers along the side of the box, where small marks resembling finger prints had been engraved in the box. The lid creaked open slowly, revealing a lining of greenish velvet. The object placed inside seemed very ancient, like it had not been cleaned in centuries. It was a foggy sphere, with little gold incisions creeping over it like vines. It sat on four small golden legs. Lily touched it cautiously, and then took it out. It felt surprisingly warm in her hand, like someone had been holding it recently.

"Um... professor... What exactly is it?" asked James.

"A Virtus Spes," whispered Lily, not believing that so rare an object sat before her. James' eyes widened as he realized that indeed, the legendary objects sat before him.

"So you have heard of it!" said Dumbledore. "Virtus Spes means brave hope in Latin. What do you know of it?"

"Well, I know it is legendary and that only two of were made... And that their existence was not believed to be," answered James.

"I... I thought that... that it was only a legend!" said Lily.

"Well, that's obviously not true, is it?" said Dumbledore, smiling.

"I...I read books about it. It was the wizard Harold Tueor who made it in the legend. Which I guess must be reality... He made it under the strain of keeping his descendants safe from the dark wizard Grindelwald. But... Has this not an incredible power, professor?" said Lily.

"Entirely correct, Ms. Evans. There are two, the one you have before you, and the one I am about to give to you." He pulled out a second orb identical to the one Lily was holding and handed it to James. "It enables you two to communicate with each other. It also answers questions about any event happening in the past... It holds information on much, and once in a while can reveal a crucial prophecy... Though that is not in its habits. You may ask any question, it will answer, as long as the events are past. You must use it to make sure your hypothesis about who will next be killed by Voldemort are correct... I must warn you though, that through this you will see horrible, dark things. You will see scenes of what Voldemort has done... A sight I wish I could keep from you, but I cannot. You must always remember that as long as this is in your hands, you are safe. Ms Evans, Mr. Potter, a great responsibility has befallen you. I am sorry to have to give you this great responsibility, but I must. I have no other choice. Remember not to tell anyone, I must insist on that. Not even the other professors. You may leave now."

He nodded at them, and Lily and James stood up. "And about the room you will be in," he said, making them turn around to face him. "I can tell you nothing except to _use your minds_. Please be careful," he added seriously.

James carefully placed the Virtus Spes back in its box, and picked up the box with extreme care. They headed out, realizing the weight that had been thrust on their shoulders.

They walked in silence through the dark halls of Hogwarts, glad that all the other students were in bed. They had never been able to stand each other. For first year through fifth year, they had always insulted each other. But then, James' cousin, Eliane, transferred to Hogwarts from Beauxbatons. She was in their year, and soon Lily and her became the best of friends. Eliane and Lily started hanging out with the Marauders, and though James and she still disagreed, fought, and insulted each other, they began to be able to stand each other... When they learned that for the first time in centuries, two students of the same house were appointed Head Girl and Head Boy, they knew that something bad was going on, and that they would have to work together.

"I guess we have to be friends now," said James suggestively.

"I don't think so," answered Lily sharply. "We can work with each other on this, but that doesn't mean we will be friends,"

James shrugged. "Whatever. Lelani Mefano," he added to a portrait of a mermaid, who giggled at James and swung on her hinges to let them in.

They walked into their common room. Lily, clutching her box, made for the stairs into her room. James, however, sat down at the couch and opened his box, staring at what was inside.

"What are you doing?" said Lily impatiently.

Surprised, James looked up. "There is a parchment in here," he said slowly.

Lily came over to where James was sitting and, taking a seat next to him, peered over his shoulder at the inside of his box. Inside, beside the sphere, lay a piece of old, wrinkled parchment she had not noticed before. She untied the ribbon around it and rolled it out. Black ink crawled across the page. She read carefully, James frowning slightly as he tried to concentrate on what Lily was saying instead of the heavenly smell wafting from her hair….

What does it say?

She handed the parchment to James and headed to the fireplace. She touched the sculpted mantel in various places, until she found what she needed. A latin inscription- the same one she had earlier found on the box!

"It's here, James," she said.

James took the box and headed over to well Lily stood. He watched as she hesitently placed the thumb of her right hand on to the inscription. The stones moved over and left a wide opening next to the fireplace.

They headed in, and found a fairly large chamber. The room had a low ceiling, just barely high enough for James to stand without hitting it. Two large armchairs were placed in front of a large fireplace. A small coffee table lay between the armchairs and the fire. James picked up the parchment that Lily had been reading earlier and read it.

"Evans... It says we have to put the box here, and leave it here."

"Alright then." She said nervously.

They placed the box on a thin table lying between the two armchairs. They then walked over to an enormous bookcase stretching across the three other walls, and on both sides of the fireplace. The shelves were filled with book upon book.

"All the books from the restricted section of the library!" said James with an intake of breath.

"How would you know?" said Lily suspiciously.

James flushed red. "Oh, well, you know, just a guess," he said feebly, to which Lily rolled her eyes.

The bottom shelves of the book case were filled with material needed- maps of all the towns in England in alphabetical order, maps of the world, quills, parchments, ink bottles...

"Well, we've got everything needed," said James.

"Yeah," said Lily, sounding a bit dazed.

"It's a bit late to work now, though," said James, checking his watch. "It's – wow, its 2:30 already? G'night, Lily."

"Goodnight, James," said Lily, smiling faintly. She didn't even notice they had used each other's first names.

A/N: I hope you like! This is only half of the original forst chapter... lol! More soon...

Review!

K.J.


	2. Boyfriend and Girlfriend

"LILY!" yelled Eliane.

Lily opened her eyes blearily, blinking several times.

"Wha – "

"What the hell are you doing? We have breakfast in five minutes!"

"Oh insert curse word? I don't know what you want this story to be rated. I would go with Pg-13 if you want to insert a curse word there…and it is romance!"

"Where were you last night? You weren't there when I went to sleep!"

"Oh, er.." said Lily, trying to think of a probable excuse. "I was..with James."

"With James?" said Eliane, raising her eyebrows. "And why did you not tell me of this?"

"It was kind of supposed to be a secret," she admitted, crossing her fingers under her covers. Elaine laughed and helped her friend out of bed and pushed her off to the shower.

"Crap," thought Lily. "How am I gonna keep this secret from Eliane? And how am I going to explain to James that Elaine thinks we're going out when we aren't even friends?"

"Hurry!" said Eliane in a singsong voice...

"Alright, alright!" exclaimes Lily as she rushed towards the bathroom.

Five minutes later she emerged from the bathroom dry and fully clothed in her Hogwarts uniform, the Head Girl badge pinned to her robes. She stood at a medium height, her red hair brushed and hanging in wavy tresses halfway down her back. No boy could decide, however, what was more beautiful – her hair or her eyes. Gorgeous emerald eyes. Her nose was small, and there were a few sprinkles of freckles across it. Her lips were red and full, and her stomach was pale and flat.. People knew that Lily had no idea she was beautiful, but a fair few boys forgot to include her in their wildest fantasies.

Her friend grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to the Great Hall. They ran in to the jungle of talking students, and sat down at the Gryffindor table. It was only when the chaos of hundreds of students just barely out of bed died down that James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter made their grand entrance. The door crashed open, and the four boys walked in nonchalantly, enjoying the fact that all girls' eyes were on them. Though two girls remained an exception: Lily and Eliane.

Eliane and James had always been very close, and when Eliane confessed that homeschooling was living hell, he took matters in hand and brought her to Hogwarts. She was a bit taller than Lily, but her chestnut hair fell down to her waist. Her eyes were the same blue as her cousins. All the boys flirted with them incessantly, but most, when finding that they weren't going to sleep with them the first night, left, disappointed. But they were still left with a fair amount of admirerers...

"Oh no..." groaned Eliane."Here come..."

She was cut off by the noise of four incredibly loud boys sitting down at their breakfast table. The Marauders had recently discovered that Lily was a great person, after meeting her through Eliane. They had taken to eating with the girls, and she enjoyed the fact that something was always happening. They were not close, but more... Well they hung out together. The difference being Lily was not sure that she could trust the Marauders... Then again, who can blame her?

"So, Lily, how's your love life?" asked Sirius.

"Um... Sirius?" questioned Lily, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh come on, Eliane talks about HER love life to us," pleaded Remus.

"Well if you want to know – _oh my god _- James, can I talk to you?"

"Sure," said James, throwing her a questioning glance, and ignoring the 'Oooooooooo's from Sirius and Remus.

"James," said Lily softly. "Elaine asked why I came back so late last night, and I said I was on a date with you."

"What?" James exclaimed.

"I know, I know," said Lily in a hushed voice. "But this is the perfect coverup, you see? That's why we will be spending so much time together…"

"Oh," said James, cottoning on. "We can just kiss in public, hold hands, and overly flirt, and the mission's in the bag!"

Lily winced. "Not too much kissing. We can announce our 'relationship' in a few days. Meanwhile, we'll just flirt in public and then you can 'ask me out'. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Hey guys, what took so long?" said Sirius, eyeing their hands, which were linked.

"Oh, nothing," said Lily, giggling.

"So who are you going out with this week?" asked Eliane, rolling her eyes.

"Oh! Thanks for reminding me!" exclaimed Sirius. He got up and walked over to the Hufflepuff table. He paused as he overlooked the table. All the Hufflepuff girls turned their heads at the same moment, reddening. He made his choice, and headed over to an incredibly attractive - and vulgar, might I add - girl. Her pretty features were completely ruined with the excess make up she wore. Her hair was very obviously charmed, but none of that mattered to Sirius - she was popular, and anyway he would dump her after.

"Hey... I've been thinking... Do you wanna go out with me?" said Sirius.

"Well... Uh.. It's so sudden!" said the girl in a falsely sweet voice.

"Oh well then," said Sirius, smiling as her turned around. Sure enough, as soon as he took one step towards the Gryffindor table, the girl's perfectly manicured hand grabbed his arm.

"Sure," she said.

He winked at her and left, pausing only to listen to the excited whispers. "Who's he going out with this week? Oh, with Victoria." Victoria, so that was her name...

"Sirius, you are SO shallow!" exclaimed Lily.

"Yeah, really..." sighed Eliane.

"Now now, don't bother the playboy!" exclaimed Remus.

"Who are YOU going out with Remus?" questioned Eliane.

"A Ravenclaw... What's her name..? Um... Mar... Mary?"

"Uhh... Remus? Her name's Georgia." said Sirius.

"Yeah, yeah..." said Remus.

"Why do you guys even do this?" asked Lily.

"Aha! Well that my friends," said Sirius knowledgably, "Is to break the RECORD. To go out with 94 of the Hogwarts' female population, to beat our dear old Paul Kirtenbook's record of 93."

"I can't BELIEVE YOU!" yelled Eliane.

"The day you really love someone, she probably won't believe you- she'll just think you want to use her," said Lily softly, but no one heard her.

BEEP

BEEP

James opened a sleepy eye. "Stupid alarm," muttered James as he hit it to turn it off.. Then he remembered. He had to meet Lily in the Book Room, as they liked to call it. He got up sleepily, and grabbed his robes, butting them over his boxers, too tired to get dressed properly.

His messy black hair made him apart from all the other boys of Hogwarts-who, atleast once in a while, bothered to comb their hair. James, however, knew that no matter how hard he tried, his hair could not be combed. So he gave up on that... His shining blue eyes were "the reflection of the sun on the navy blue sea," as Sandra Henry, a Hufflepuff poet in her fourth year who was quite crazy about James, had put it. His fine features and Quidditch player body made him the most wanted guy of Hogwarts... Along with Sirius, of course.

Slowly he edged down the stairs from the boys dormitory, feeling his way through the darkness. He paused at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Gryffindor common room, and glanced nervously around the empty, but none the less, cheery room. The fires were still lit despite the late hour. He headed over to the fireplace, and placed the thumb of his right hand on to the Latin inscription, and headed through the small doorway thus opened.

He stepped into the room. He hadn't realized how dark and dreary it was until now. Lily wasn't there yet. He walked around the room, looking at the box, when he came across a door. He hadn't noticed it when he and Lily had explored this room yesterday. A roll of parchment was attached to the door knob by an emerald colored ribbon. He untied it and opened up the parchment:

"_Dear Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans,  
I have provided this room for your entertainment. Use it well! My best wishes in your work.  
On the small table between the arm chairs you will find a time turner. It is only to be used in order to catch up the hours of sleep you have missed by working on this. It will only work when both of you are holding it. It is quite illegal and for this reason I ask that you keep it a secret. It is not to be shown to anyone. Take good care of it and never leave it out. When you are done using it, place it in the box with the Virtus Spes.  
Sincerely,  
Professor Dumbledore."_

James walked over to the table first, touching the solid gold object. He then turned and headed towards the door. It opened slowly, and James opened his eyes in awe.  
It was a beautiful room. A red plush carpet covered the floor. The walls were red, lined with gold. A beautiful grand piano stood on the side. Some sort of a contraption was on a small round table by the piano, and he walked over towards it, trying to figure out what it was.

"It's a CD player," stated Lily.

"AAH!" James yelled, flailing around and falling backward. He felt whatever he had landed on squirming. Jumping up, he realized it was Lily. "Sorry," he said, helping her up.

"It's alright," said Lily, grimacing. They both realized at the same time that their robes had been pulled off when James had fallen. Lily had obviously had the same idea as James, for under her robes was a small yellow tank top and mini shorts. James could see Lily's cheeks burning as she stared at his boxers.

"Sorry," said James again hastily, as they both quickly pulled on their robes. "So what is it?"

"Well... You see these flat round... things? They play music."

"Oooh! I've heard of 'em. Do they work?" said James excitedly.

"Lets see – how can I phrase this? – you're an idiot."

"Okay, let's work now." said James, a bit miffed at Lily's comment.

A/N: well, that's all for now... I'll juice things up a bit really soon, ok! If you've got any suggestions, e-mail them to me!

REVIEW!

K.J.


	3. Cover Blown

Chapter 3

"I'm afraid there's been a mistake..."

"I know it was you, Potter," spat Lucius Malfoy.

"Oh really, Lucius?" asked James sweetly. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I was actually working, especially for Professor Dumbledore."

He turned around and happily walked down the halls to the dormitory.

Lucius Malfoy looked after him and smiled cruelly. He had completely trashed the Trophy Room, and had waited for the Head Boy to come around during his nightly walks. He had patiently waited while James looked in bewilderement at the mess, then had come striding in accusing him of trashing the place.

And James had given him the exact information he was looking for, without him even asking for it.

Malfoy couldn't help but smile smugly.

He walked towards the Owelry, the sound of his shoes hitting the floor echoing through the dark halls. He grabbed the door knob and twisted it violently, entering the owelry. He carefully took out a piece of parchment and smoothed it out on the table. He pulled out his quill and dipped it in a bottle of ink left on the table, and he began to write.

"Lord,

I think I have found something that could be of interest to you. James Potter is working for Dumbledore at night...

Your humble servant,

Lucius Malfoy."

He laughed coldly and attached the parchment to a black-feathered bird's legs.

Finally, he could make James Potter pay.

"Lily," whispered James urgently.

She turned over, then finally identifying the voice that was disturbing her beuaty sleep, jumped up in her bed preparing to scream. His hand clamped down on her mouth.

"Lily, there's trouble."

"WHAT?" she whispered.

"Get dressed quick, I'll wait for you outside."

"What is going on?" thought Lily as she slipped on a pair of sweat pants and a white tee-shirt..

She carefully crept outside her dorm to find a very obviously worried James.

"Now will you tell me what's going on?" she whispered.

"Get to the room."

"James! Tell me what-" said Lily as she was violently pushed through the door.

She walked in, finding the room trashed with parchemnts, over the tables and floors.

"Voldemort's going to strike. Tonight!" said James urgently.

Lily sucked her breath in quickly, her head spinning. "I wasn't really expecting that..." she said quietly.

Lily gasped.

"What?" asked James, alarmed.

"No, no, I've got to be wrong!" exclaimed Lily.

"WHAT?" James repeated urgently.

"H-Hogwarts. Tonight!"

"Yeah right," laughed James. But as he checked the different maps she had been looking at, his smile vanished. "Oh, crap!" he muttered.

He grabbed Lily's hand and they ran through the halls, wands held tight.

But as they neared Dumbledore's office, two cold hands touched their shoulders. And when they slowly turned around, they couldn't help but scream.

* * *

A/N: Well, sorry for the slow update, I really have no excuse!

PLEASE read and review! heh heh... It's all I ask!

Thanks so much to my few reviewers, it makes me happy inside...

K.J.


	4. Death Eaters

James opened his eyes slowly. "What a nightmare!" he thought. "Man, I dreamed that there were death eaters in Hogwarts." James started to sit up. "Shit, I'm not in the dorm-WHAT THE?"

"Tell me where he is!" screamed a tall, cloaked figure.

"I-I don't know," answered Lily.

James stood up, pulling his wand out of his pocket. The cloaked person- whom he assumed was a death eater- had Lily kneeling on the floor, his wand pointed at her. She was crying... He was about to call out to her when the death eater spoke again.

"You hid Potter somewhere! I know you did!" he screamed again.

"I-No, I-I won't tell y-" Lily started.

"Crucio!" he shrieked.

James started shaking as he heard her begin to scream. "Shit, shit... Think quick..." he thought to himself. Then, seeing his only way to save her was to give himself in, he transformed into his animagus form.

"Now, well you tell me?" asked the death eater.

"N-No!" cried out Lily.

It was then that through her tears she saw a stag emerge from the shadows where she had dragged James. Whatever or whoever had knocked him out had not bothered with her, but had just turned around and shrilly screamed for the other Death Eaters. Thinking fast, she had grabbed his arms and pulled him behind a statue, where the shadows kept him away from sight. As soon as she had left him behind it though, a rough hand had grabbed her and thrown her down to the ground, asking her where the "Potter boy" was.

But even through the pain of the cruciatus curse, she would not tell them where he was.

The Death Eaters all turned to look at the stag. There were about five of them. "Crap," thought James. "I'm totally outnumbered."

Lily lay unconscious on the floor, her cheeks streaked with tears, and her hair in a tangled mess around her face. Suddenly, James stepped next to Lily. Then he hastily transformed back into his human form, wincing at the familiar pain his transformation caused. Then, as quickly as he could he grabbed Lily, cast a protective spell around himself and ran.

He could hardly feel his legs under him as he sprinted through the halls, the Death Eaters gaining on him. He felt tears of frustration slipping down his cheeks... But what surprised him most was that he cared more about saving Lily than anything else.

His legs unexpectedly gave way, and he came crashing to the ground. "Shit!" he cried out. He knew they were right behind him, but still he tried to get up and run.

Stumbling on a rock, he came crashing to the floor, just as Lily opened her eyes. "James, what's goin-" Then she caught sight of the Death Eaters hovering over them.

"So, your little girlfriend woke up did she?" asked one of them nastily.

"I'm not his girlfr-"

"SHUT UP!" screeched another one. "Now, Potter, how would you like to see her die... RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES!"

James, trembling with rage, placed himself protectively in front of her, helping her to stand up.

"Don't try to fight us, Potter!" he spat. "We're much too strong for you!"

"Don't touch her!" James answered, dangerously calm.

Lily took out her wand and, as calmly as she could, thought of all the hexes she knew.

"Don't even try us, mudblood!" cried out another Death Eater, pushing her down to the ground.

They formed a ring around her, and before James could do anything, began to torture her. "Crucio!"

James felt something rise up inside him that he'd never felt before. Maybe it was despair, maybe it was sorrow, maybe it was just because he hated Voldemort so much, or maybe even because he liked Lily so much, but something inside him broke. Crazily, he ran violently into them, pushing and hexing his way to her.

Breathing heavily, he eyed each Death Eater, and calmly spoke to them.

"I know each one of you," he said. "And I swear that if you kill her I will hunt each of you down- and destroy you."

"Oh yeah?" laughed one of them.

"Oh yes, _Mr. Black._"

The Death Eaters sucked in their breaths, surprised that he knew their names.

At that moment, there were blinding blue lights from all directions. James, shielding his eyes from the light, saw a group of aurors emerge from the forest, pointing their wands at the group.

"Are you alright, son?" one of them asked.

Overcome by the emotions of the night, he motioned towards Lily, and, picking her up, staggered towards the Hospital Wing.

"Oh my goodness!" yelled Madam Silvia as she saw the unconscious girl in his arms. "What has happened?"

"Death Eaters..." mumbled James.

Weary, he threw himself onto a bed and fell into a deep sleep.

"My my, it's a wonder you're still alive!" muttered a warm voice. Lily felt her head being lifted up and someone pouring a warm potion down her throat. She weakly opened her eyes.

"The Hospital Wing?" she whispered.

"Ah! You're awake!" exclaimed the nurse. "Now, I'm sure you remember what happened?"

Images of what had happened flowed through her mind, and she abruptly sat up. "Where's James?" she asked urgently.

"On the bed over there. Still hasn't woken up!"

Lily jumped out of bed, wincing as she crumpled to the floor.

"Now, now!" said Madam Silvia. "You're in no shape to go off running to your little prince charming!"

But Lily weakly pulled herself up and walked over to his bed, kneeling next to him.

"Thank you, thank you so much..." she whispered.

"Lily?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, it's me... Can't you see me?" she questioned.

"I'm afraid he's gone blind, honey," announced the nurse sadly.


	5. Blinded

**Chapter 5**

"Blind?" choked Lily. "He can't- he can't be blind!"

"Now, now don't be so-"

"No! You don't understand! _He can't be blind_! He just... No, it's not right. I don't want this to.."

"Please, Ms. Evans!" exclaimed the Nurse sternly. "Get a grip of yourself! This is what has happened, now deal with it!"

The Nurse left the room. Lily went over to James' bed and sat next to him, taking his hand and holding it. "James," she whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," he whispered. "We need to get out of here: I need to talk to you."

She stood up, and helped him sit on his bed. "Okay, now lean on me," she directed. "Good. There you go..."

Then they began to walk towards the door, James leaning heavily on Lily. They walked outside the castle. It was a bright, sunny day with the birds chirping and when everything seems possible...

"Okay, let's sit here," said James. "There's a bench here, right?"

"No, it's a bit further," answered Lily. They went to the stone bench and sat down.

"Is there anyone around?" asked James.

"No, they're all in class right now."

"Well, Lily... The Nurse is wrong."

"About what?"

"Well, she thinks that this whole blindness thing is just a side effect from curses that were cast on me. But if you remember as well as I do, there were no curses cast on me..."

"I-I... Crap, you're right..."

"This isn't any normal curse, it's the inviositus curse."

"But... Isn't there a cure to it?"

"Oh yes, there is!" he said bitterly. "But Voldemort has it- he's had it for years! You know how slow the curse destroys you- it's like a disease."

"I remember... Reading about it..." she said slowly. "The blindness comes a month after. You've come in close contact with Voldemort a month ago?"

"I don't know. I guess so. But I don't know."

"But, James, this thing's going to kill you."

"I know."

"We're going to save you..."

"You can't..." James said sadly.

"Yes, I can! I'm going to James... I can't just let you die without atleast trying..."

"No, Lily! Please don't do anything crazy. I'd rather die knowing you're safe than have a chance to live, without you."

"What?"

"Well, Lily... I think I actually like you. As a friend of course but-"

"Ok, time to go back now. This thing must be having side effects on your brain. We're supposedly ennemies..."

"That was before!" James put his hand on her arm.

"We'll talk about this later," said Lily.

"Come on! I may be dying, you could atleast-"

"Listen! I'm too tired to deal with whatever is going on in your brain!"

"Well you can atleast tell me that you care!"

"Who says I care?"

"Well let's see... How about the fact that you actually considered confronting Voldemort to save me?"

Lily grabbed his arm roughly and started guiding him briskly towards the Hospital Wing again. She sat him on a bed.

"You stay here," she ordered.

"No! Lily don't do-"

But Lily was gone.

* * *

"Wait, Lily- is this some sort of sick prank or something?" asked Sirius. "How come nobody told us about this whole attack, or about Prongs!"

"Because no one knows!" Lily said urgently. "And if we have any chance of saving him, we have to leave now! Where's his broom?"

"Okay, okay, but we have to find Wormtail!" said Sirius.

"There's no time!" exclaimed Remus.

"Let's go..." said Lily. "Hurry!"

"Okay, grab your broom Padfoot, I've already got mine," said Remus.

"Where do we go to get it?" asked Sirius.

"I don't know!" said Lily, irritated.

"I know," said Remus. "I read a whole book on this. Come on, let's go."

"Where?"

"Diagon Alley. I always thought it was there."

"What do you mean, thought?" asked Lily, running out to the lake.

"It's kind of one of those mystery things. You know, a riddle. You have to guess where it is."

"Wait- so we're not sure it's there?" asked Sirius.

"No, but do you have any other ideas?"

They took off and began to follow the train tracks at top speed.

"Lily!" called Sirius. "I'm surprised you know how to fly so well!"

"Yeah!" she answered. "That's not what we need to talk about. What do we do when we get there?"

"Well, I think I have a bit of a plan," began Remus. "Here's what I think we should do..."

* * *

Diagon Alley was completely empty. There was no movement, no lights. Nothing. They neared a large, marble building. They entered through a side door.

"Padfoot, now." whispered Remus.

Sirius concentrated and turned into his animagus form.

"Shocked?" asked Remus to Lily.

"Why should I be?"

"Well, he's an animagus..."

"And you're a werewolf."

"You know?"

"Of course."

"You surprise me."

"Hey, I'm Head Girl!"

Sirius barked.

"He's right, we should shut up."

They followed Remus through the dark halls, only lit up by the light of their wands. They neared a large, stone door.

"It's here," he whispered.

He put his hand on the large handle.

"Wait," whispered Lily. "It could be a trap!"

"Well, you've got it all firgured out, mudblood!" snapped a voice from behind them.

Lily slowly turned around.

"Gina Jonasthin. I should have known," she said coldly.

"Oh yes, you should have!"

"I'm surprised Voldemort sent someone like you to greet us," said Remus.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we were expecting a stronger witch than you," he answered.

"You just don't know how strong I really am," Gina whispered dangerously.

Lily looked beside her, and noticed Sirius was no longer with them. She frowned and looked towards Remus. He nodded slightly.

"So what do you plan on doing to us?" Lily asked cheerfully.

"Cheerful are you? You wouldn't be if you knew what Lord Voldemort has in store for you!" she threatened.

"Oh, plans... Really?" Lily asked disbelievingly, though she was starthing to get worried.

"SHUT UP, JONASTHIN!" screeched a cloaked woman.

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"If you reveal what's going to happen to her..." the woman continued.

Remus tried to control his laughter. "Certainly very efficient Death Eaters!" he whispered to Lily. The two didn't even overhear them, too busy bickering.

"Let's go," whispered Lily.

They headed down the hall. Taking slow steps and waiting until the two would try to follow them.

They started relaxing, sure that they were going to get out of this easily.

But that's when a large stone door opened directly in front of them, and six Dementors glided out, encircling them.

"You thought you'd get away!" laughed Gina. "Oh, no, you won't!"

Lily felt her eyes tear up. "Atleast I tried, James, atleast I tried," she thought to herself.

* * *

A/N: well, there ya go! thanks so much for the reviews, lol! don't worry, i don't plan on leaving poor james alone... and who says i can't keep him blind? well, anyways, this was a quick update! so review and i promise i'll update asap! 


	6. Paintings

James yawned and stretched. He felt the warmth of sunlight on his face, yet everything around him was dark. Nothing could have hurt him more than to lose his sight: and Voldemort knew this. The Dark Lord had planned well: James was now incapable of doing anything he used to do, like Quidditch, much less fight Voldemort like he would have liked to.

He lay in his bed, thinking.

Suddenly, he heard the door to the Hospital Wig swing open, and someone run to his bed. "Quite out of breath, huh?" James said.

"James, it's me!" said Peter urgently. "Sirius and Remus- they're gone.!

James sat up unexpectedly, bumping his head hard into Peter's.

"Is Lily gone too?" he asked.

"Evans? Well she wasn't at breakfast or at lunch.."

"SHIT!" yelled James. "Okay, Peter. Get the Headmaster."

"What the-"

"Now!" he exclaimed.

Peter hurried out of the room. James, left by himself, felt a tear slip down his cheek. Two of his best friends, and Lily. He had to do something. He tentatively started out of his bed, feeling his way across the floor. But it was no use, he couldn't get around this way.

Helpless, he fell back on to his bed.

* * *

Remus opened one eye. He sat bolt upright. "Lily," he whispered. "LILY!" he shook her.

"What? No-it's not morning y-" she started.

"LILY!"

"Oh, crap. I though it was only a nightmare," she said quietly.

"Well, obviously it isn't. I wonder how long we were unconscious... Where are we?" he asked.

They were sitting in the middle of s peculiar room- too small to be an actual room, yet too big to be a closet.

The door was opened wide.

"Okay, something's messed up here," said Lily. "They're letting us out?"

"Lily, I don't know what's going on, but we really have to be careful," said Remus.

Lily stood up. "I know we have to be careful, but we also have to find out where Sirius is- who knows where he went?"

Remus followed her out of the closet/room. They were in a dark hall with walls covered in portraits. Remus started walking down the hall, holding up his wand and studying the paintings by its light.

"Um, Remus? No offence, but now is not the time for art."

He ignored her, and kept on walking.

"Well, fine, ignore me!" she exclaimed.

He stopped abruptly in front of a painting. A slow smile spread on his face. "Lily! The cure isn't here! I know where it is!"

"What?"

"Look at this painting- now I can't recite the whole riddle to you, but at one moment it says in that _in the halls of a friend of Diagon Alley_ which could mean the halls of this building, _lies the truth of the cure under the name of Sea Mermaid. _I thought this meant that the cure itself would be here- but it's not! This painting is the recipe!"

"Yes, the name if the painting is Sea Mermaid!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "But what relation between the mermaid and the cure?"

"I don't know," he answered. He began to take the painting off the wall. " But I have a feeling that as soon as I take this painting off we're going to be attacked, so get ready."

Lily pulled out her wand, and heard Remus mutter a reducing charm on the painting. He had shrunken it to the size of a stamp. He slipped it into her pocket.

"Ready? I hear voices," he whispered.

They flattened themselves against the wall.

Two men passed in front of them. One was tall, walking quickly, and looked a bit angry. The second was short and thin and trying his best to keep up with the other man's angry strides.

"But John," said the short man. "I'm sure they'll still be knocked out! There's no way they could have woken up so quickly after an encounter like that with the dementors! I'm sure that they haven't gone anywhere."

"How could you forget to lock the door?" said the tall man icily. His voice was strong and powerful.

"I-I-It's an inexcusable m-mistake," said the man, shaking.

Suddenly Remus and Lily heard a roar of rage.

"They're-they're gone!" gasped the short man.

"SEARCH FOR THEM! NOW!" screamed the tall man before leaving.

The short man ran off in the opposite direction.

Remus slowly began to edge down the hallway, Lily following him closely. He found a door, which he slowly opened. He entered the room, and pulled Lily in after him. Lily closed the door noiselessly.

"Lumos," she muttered. He wand gave off a nice, warm light. The light fell on a body.

She ran over, turning over the person. "Sirius!" she gasped.

Remus sat down next to her. "Shit," he muttered. "We have to get out of here!"

"He's in bad shape, Remus," whispered Lily. "I'm not sure if it's safe to move him."

Remus transfigured a piece of board that lay near them into a stretcher. He carefully placed it next to him.

"On the count of three," whispered Lily. "One... Two... Three!"

They lifted him up on to the stretcher. Remus used a spell to lift it up in the air, and made it follow him.

"We have to get out of here," he whispered to Lily. "Do you still have the painting?"

"Of course!" she whispered. "But where do you think our brooms are?"

"Each thing in it's own time!"

They headed out of the room into the dark hallway.

"I wonder how he got hurt," whispered Remus.

"Shh!"

They slowly walked down the hall, until they came to a dead end.

"Crap! We're never going to find our way out!" whispered Lily.

They began to walk in the opposite direction. They came to a large door.

Lily put her ear against it. "There's no noise. I think it's safe."

They opened it, and daylight streamed into the dark hallway.

Lily laughed with joy, and stepped out into the street. Remus followed her out, guiding Sirius' stretched through the door.

"Oh, there's where we left our brooms!" she said, pointing to a large bush.

Remus ran over. "Darn it- they're not there!" he shouted.

"We have to get out of here- into a Muggle neighborhood."

"Why?" asked Remus.

"We'll be safer there."

So they quickly walked through the Leaky Cauldron.

"Excuse me, Mr. Lupin sir!" called a house elf.

"Yes?" answered Remus.

"I is Mr. Potter's new house elf. I is been told to give Mr. Lupin sir Mr. Potter's car. You is coming early?" said the house elf.

"What...?" Remus' eyes widened in surprise. "Oh yeah! I was supposed to pick up his car, but that's in a month!"

"Doesn't matter!" said Lily. "Where's the car?"

"Yeah, we'll take it."

They climbed into the car, lying Sirius down on the back seat.

"Talk about coincidences!" exclaimed Lily.

Remus smiled happily.

"We better get home quick- those Death Eaters are probably already after us!" he said.

Lily closed the door. She turned around and looked at Sirius. "I better take care of him. He looks pretty bad."

"You know how to-"

"Yeah, Madame Silvia taught me some First Aid," she interrupted.

She began to take off Sirius' cloak. His shirt was stained with blood.

"Remus!" she called urgently. "We _need_ to get back quickly! He's losing a lot of blood!"

She ripped off a bit of her cloak into a large strip. Then she took Sirius' shirt off and began to examine his wound. There was a big gash on his shoulder. She took of her cloak and envelopped his shoulder. She patted her pocket, making sure that the painting was still there. She then climbed back into the passenger seat.

"That'll do for now, but I'm kinda scared," she said. "We really have got to hurry up."

"Okay," said Remus. "But Lily- keep your wand out. This car is supposed to be protected from curses, but I'm scared that the Death Eaters will be after us soon..."

"You know, we should play some music," said Lily. She pressed on a button, and suddenly the car was rising in the air. "Okay, that's not the radio!" she said, alarmed.

"You're a genius!" called Remus. "I forgot this car could fly! And this one will make us invisible to muggles!" he said pressing another button.

Lily laughed.

After a few hourse they arrived at Hogwarts only to find that the entire school was out in front of the school, cheering as they saw the car approach.

"What a warm welcome!" laughed Remus.

"We did it!" squealed Lily.

Remus landed the car, and they jumped out. Lily ran to her friends, hugging them happily. Sirius, having regained consiousness, was sitting up in the car, and was weakly and tiredly smiling to everyone. Lily ran back to them. "We did it!" she said, her eyes shining.

"I'm exhausted!" exclaimed Remus.

Just then, the crowd parted and James came through. "What's going on?" he called.

"Well, we're back!" shouted Remus.

"You-?" started James, his eyes widening. "You really went all that way, for me?"

"Oh yes we did!" said Lily.

"Tell me everything!" he shouted happily.

And for that moment everything looked like it would be okay...

* * *

A/N: That was a quick update! Next chapter soon- Tuesday night at the latest. Thanks to my reviewers! I'd love to thank you personally but I've got finals and exams to study for... 


	7. Loving her

The Marauders, Eliane, and Lily were in the Gryffindor common room, sprawled on the floor in front of the fireplace. Lily was already half asleep, and Remus was already snoring. But Sirius, his shoulder bandaged, was feeling energetic enough to tell about what had happened to them.

"So I was still in my shape of a dog," Sirius was saying, having already confessed to Eliane the fact that they all were animagus. "and these Death Eaters entered, and started talking. Then they saw me, and they decided to have fun messing around with a poor old dog... So I got kicked, and punched, and hexed, but I just couldn't do anything back. After a while they got sick of me, and I just crawled into a corner and waited for Lily and Remus..."

Eliane and James stared wide eyed at their friends.

"You guys are the best friends anyone could ever hope for!" said Eliane, half crying.

"Which reminds me," said Lily sleepily. "I've got to give the painting to Professor Dumbledore."

"What?" asked Sirius, James, and Eliane.

"Painting... Cure..." she murmured. Then her eyes fluttered closed and she began to sleep.

"Gosh, she's tired!" exclaimed Eliane. "I guess we better get to bed."

Sirius began to shake Remus awake. Remus opened one eye, closed it, and then tiredly headed up the stairs.

"I can't wake up Lily!" said Eliane.

"I'll stay with her," said James quietly.

"Wh-" began Eliane.

"It's fine."

"Okay," she said, looking weirdly at James. She turned around and walked up the stairs.

James was sitting in a large, fluffy armchair. He had been blind for two days now, and he felt... Empty. He had never realized how much he needed his friends until now. And most of all, he realized how much he liked Lily: Lily the beautiful friend who had risked her life to try to save him from this black emptiness.

He heard Lily turn over. Now that he was blind, he was learning to hear more than anything else. He felt like his hearing was becoming clearer by the hour. James didn't really know what to make of all this.

"But what if they don't really have the cure?" he thought to himself. "What would I do?"

He turned his head, and curling up in the armchair began to think of his life, of his early years...

Lily woke up. It was one of those hard awakenings when all of a sudden you are brought back to reality brutally, and left feeling just as tired as when you fell asleep. Disoriented, she sat up. She saw James, curled up in an armchair and fast asleep.

"He looks so... Tired," she thought to herself. "Maybe even weary... He's gone through a lot... I just wish I knew why Voldemort was after him..."

James stirred, and finally woke up.

"How are you?" she asked softly.

Startled, he moved his head in her direction. "I didn't know you were awake."

"Are you okay? I mean, do you want to talk or something?" she questioned gently.

"I... I don't know," he answered. He got up slowly and began to feel his way over to the fireplace. Suddenly he felt a hand on his arm.

"This way," whispered Lily, leading him a little to the left. "Do you want to go in?"

"Yeah, yeah. I would like that," he muttered.

Lily placed his hand on the Inscriptions and led him through the door.

Once inside, James felt his way into the second room, and sat down at the piano. Suddenly, a strong emotion burned through him, and his hands shaking, he began to play. Quickly and surely his hands swept across the piano's keys, playing a strong, angry tune. His hands pounded on the keys and he felt tears in his sightless eyes as he poured his heart out through the music.

Lily watched from the side. She saw the tears rolling down his cheek, and felt tears on her own. He was playing something beautiful, and she could tell how everything he was feeling was coming out in this melody. When he stopped playing, his cheeks were streaked with tears.

Lily sat next to him on the piano stool. "I didn't know how much pain this all caused you," she said softly.

"It- It's hard. For all of you... I can't believe you did this... For me. It makes me wonder what I did to deserve this..."

"You're a wonderful person, James. And I know that you'd do the same thing for them and for me... James, you're brave and strong, and a good friend. That's more than enough to deserve this."

"And yesterday you said that we were supposedly enemies!" he said, smiling.

Lily put her hand on his. "Well, now we can never be enemies. I think we might even be friends."

"Yeah," he agreed. He felt Lily's arms around him.

"I know it's hard," she whispered. "But we'll all be there for you, no matter what. Okay? Please don't lose hope, because Remus has probably found the cure... Now, come on. I'll bring you to your room. Okay?"

Reluctantly he let go of her, and nodded. She took his hand and led him slowly out of the two rooms and up the stairs.

"Tomorrow, we'll go to Professor Dumbledore and work this out," she whispered. "Sleep well..."

She left, and suddenly James knew. As he lay on his bed, he thought about her, and realized how being blind had made at least one thing clear: he was in love with Lily Evans.

But was Lily in love with him?

* * *

Two days later, Remus studied the painting thoughtfully. "I just don't get it!" he yelled, frustrated.

"What?" asked Lily, worried.

"The cure! It's supposed to be on here somewhere! But I just can't find it! Nothing make sense!"

"Just tell me the riddle and I'll help you!"

"I can't!" he admitted weakly.

"But why?"

"Because I don't remember it clearly," he said. "I know it's here, but I just don't remember..."

"Remus!" she said. "Just come clean, _what is going on_?"

"Okay! You want to know the real story? I know about this only because of my parents. You know they died, murdered." Lily nodded. "Well," he continued. "The Ministry said that this had no ties with Voldemort, but I saw him kill them- personally. Lily, I haven't told anyone else about this... They died because they were researching on this. I don't know why it's so important to him, but he's going to come after me for this. All the knowledge I have of this is things I've heard through the closed door of their room!"

"I'm sorry Remus," she said softly, her emerald eyes glistening with tears. "I... Thank you for telling me. I'm going to help you Remus, and if ever you need someone to talk to... I'll be there, okay?"

"Thanks, Lil," he said, smiling slightly.

"Now, I'm guessing this is really complicated? Tell me all you know."

Remus creeped into their room, closing the door as softly as he could. He carefully walked over to his bed.

"Where were you?" whispered James from his bed.

"I was working on the cure," he answered.

"You missed lessons all day? And they don't mind?"

"They know how important this is- heck, they let Padfoot stay with you all day!"

"Yeah," smiled James.

"Now go to sleep, I'm tired," whispered Remus.

As he lay in his bed, Remus had only one thought: "Why hasn't Voldemort come after the painting yet?"

* * *

A/N: here, do you like it? lol! well chapter 8 comes when reviews do! ( --- HINT!)

Thanks so much to all those of you who have reviewed!


	8. Cures and Confusions

Remus had been sleeping soundly when, all of a sudden, he opened his eyes and jumped out of bed. He ran out of the room, leaving the door wide open.

"What...?" called Peter sleepily.

"Ah, Moony had a stroke of genius, apparently," muttered Sirius sarcastically.

Remus was tearing through the common room. He threw open the door to the girls' room and dashed to Lily's bed.

"Lily!" he whispered, shaking her violently. "Wake up! I found it! I found it!"

"What the-?" she started.

"The cure! I think I-"

"Let's go!" she called, suddenly very awake.

Lily grabbed the painting and they ran to the common room.

Sirius walked into the common room, obviously not very awake, to find Lily and Remus picking paint off the canvas.

"What's going on?" asked Sirius groggily before sinking into a couch.

"I think I know where the cure is," answered Remus absently.

"He thinks it's hidden under the paint... You know, you write whatever you want with a thick black marker, paint something over it. We have to pick off all of the paint..."

"Yeah, that's really cool," said Sirius, before falling asleep on the couch and beginning to snore loudly.

Finally they succeed in picking off a bit of the paint.

"Hallelujah!" yelled Lily, hugging Remus. "It's there! It's really there!"

Sirius, wakened by the scream, sat up grumpily. "You shouldn't wake me up so early, I need my- YOU FOUND IT?" He ran up the stairs hollering for James.

Soon, every Gryffindor was in the common room, surrounding Lily and Remus who were finishing to pick off the paint. James was seated in a comfy armchair next to them, smiling ecstatically.

A group of fifth years had run down to the kitchens, and brought back butterbeer and food for all. Everyone was chatting happily, talking about how good this recovery would be for the Quidditch team, or about how hot James was even when he was blind...

Before long, a group of teachers came running into the common room, having heard all the noise.

"What is going on?" asked the Potions master in a particularly teacherly way.

"Butterbeer?" called a sixth year.

"Remus and Lily, sir!" squeaked a short first year. "They found the cure, for James!"

The teachers pushed their way through the joyful crowd, and finally found James, Lily, and Remus, proudly showing off a canvas, covered in tiny script.

"Mr. Lupin, Ms. Evans, Mr. Potter, follow us please," asked the Divination teacher.

Remus helped James up, and they followed the teachers, happy that they could finally heal James.

The Potions master had carefully followed the instructions on the canvas, concocting a foul smelling, bubbly liquid. The Head Nurse then carefully made James drink every drop.

All of the color drained out of his face, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Then, suddenly, he turned a bright red, before finally relaxing and turning back to a normal color.

"I- I can see!" he said softly, before jumping up and hugging everyone.

* * *

"Morning Remus!" called Lily grumpily from the Gryffindor table, as Remus walked towards them, obviously not very awake.

"Hey," he said sleepily.

"Tough night?" she asked.

"Wait until you see the others..."

At that moment, the three remaining Marauders made their entrance, still in their pajamas. Yawning, they walked towards their usual seats.

"Sirius, you've got a twig in your hair," said Eliane, laughing. "I wonder where you were last night!"

Lily and Remus exchanged glances. "She doesn't know about..." whispered James.

"About wh-" began Eliane.

"Mail's here!" called out Peter and Sirius, all of a sudden a bit more alert.

"Wait, what's going on?" asked Eliane.

"Well, we're writing you a birthday song!" lied Peter.

"Oh really! How sweet, why don't you sing it for me!" she exclaimed, obvoisly sure he was lying.

"Um..." he started, reddening.

"Yeah, whatever!" she laughed, imitating him.

* * *

"You didn't tell her?" hissed Lily.

"No, I didn't think..." answered James.

"No, you did not think! She's my best friend, and I think she deserves to know!"

"Hey, don't get all worked up about this! It's fine, we'll figure it out and ask Remus what _he_ wants to do, since it _is_ his secret to tell."

"Well I don't think that's right! Eliane deserves to-"

"You already said that! No what the heck is wrong with you? It seems like since I got better you just don't care anymore!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well when I was blind, you cared! You were nice, you actually talked to me. And now it seems like you don't give!"

"Oh come on, Potter, you're just lame!"

"Oh, so now it's Potter is it?"

"It's always been-"

"No! For a while there we were actually on first name basis! And don't roll your eyes at me! What's your problem?"

Then James walked away, slamming the door closed behind him, leaving Lily alone to her thoughts. Eliane walked in, and seated herself next to Lily.

"I heard the fighting all the way from the library!" exclaimed Eliane. "What's wrong, Lil?"

"I dunno," she answered tiredly. "It's just that he... He annoys me. I don't know, I really don't get it. I really liked him for a while, and then... Something weird happened. I guess that first of all, I'm different..."

"What? Lily, you haven't changed!"

"Yes I have, but he's changed to!"

"What?"

"Well, now he's all... I don't know! Gosh, I guess it's 'cause he's all calm and collected, and he's nice to everyone, and he's just not the same!"

"Is that a bad thing? You used to hate him so badly, back in first year until this year!"

"I know, I know! But when he was arrogant... It was fun! I hate to admit this so long after, but I guess now he's just a bit... Well boring, maybe. No, that's not it. This is so confusing, but I can't help but pick a fight!"

Someone coughed slightly behind them. Lily spun around, and saw James Potter looking at her.

"How long have you been there?" she demanded angrily.

"I came to get my book, and heard every word you said. So I guess you're never satisfied, huh? If I'm a prick, you hate me, and if I try to change, you still hate me. And the worst is I actually liked you!"

He grabbed his book and stomped out of the room, leaving Lily frowning and very confused.

* * *

A/N: hey,well here's chap 8... sorry if it's not very good, but I'm kind of having a little bit of writer's block... IDEAS ARE WELCOME!

thanks!  
K.J.


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